"Health At Every Size®" is now a Registered Trademark

August 1, 2011, San Francisco, CA--The Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) is pleased to announce that they have been granted a trademark for Health At Every Size® services and materials This is the culmination of many months of patient work and planning on the part of the ASDAH Board, who are careful to stress that the trademark registration is part of an ongoing effort to keep the term from being “borrowed” by diet and weight-loss programs not in keeping with the original intent of the phrase.

“This is not about keeping the Health At Every Size® approach exclusive to ASDAH,” said ASDAH President, Deb Lemire. “Through the diligent work of many people both within and allied with our organization, the Health At Every Size® principles have come to mean something very important to people of all sizes who want access to compassionate, relevant and rational health care. We simply want to protect this phrase from individuals or large corporations who would seek to co-opt the phrase to hawk their latest diet or weight-loss program.”

The new trademark is just one in a series of proactive responses to the continued misguided public and political approach to health and weight. In June, ASDAH launched healthateverysizeblog.com featuring outspoken advocates for the Health At Every Size® paradigm. ASDAH also recently responded to a commentary in JAMA suggesting the removal of higher weight children from their homes. While the removal was proposed as a last resort, “the option should not even have been on the table,” says Lemire “when the Health At Every Size® approach is a viable and compassionate alternative.” ASDAH has drafted a policy response which can be downloaded from its website.